Footwear, including shoes and boots, are an important article of apparel. They protect the foot and provide necessary support, while the wearer stands, walks, or runs. They also can provide an aesthetic component to the wearer's personality.
A shoe comprises a sole constituting an outsole and heel, which contact the ground. Attached to a shoe that does not constitute a sandal or flip flop is an upper that acts to surround the foot, often in conjunction with a tongue. Finally, a closure mechanism draws the medial and lateral portions of the upper snugly around the tongue and wearer's foot to secure the shoe to the foot.
The most common form of a closure mechanism is a lace criss-crossing between the medial and lateral portions of the shoe upper that is pulled tightly around the instep of the foot, and tied in a knot by the wearer. While simple and practical in functionality, such shoe laces need to be tied and retied throughout the day as the knot naturally loosens around the wearer's foot. This can be a hassle for the ordinary wearer. Moreover, young children may not know how to tie a knot in the shoe lace, thereby requiring assistance from an attentive parent or caregiver. Furthermore, elderly people suffering from arthritis may find it painful or unduly challenging to pull shoe laces tight and tie knots in order to secure shoes to their feet.
The shoe industry over the years has adopted additional features for securing a tied shoe lace, or alternative means for securing a shoe about the wearer's foot. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 737,769 issued Preston in 1903 added a closure flap across the shoe instep secured to the upper by an eyelet and stud combination. U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,171 issued to Cardaropoli employed a hook and eye combination to secure the closure flap to the shoe upper. A military hunting boot covered by U.S. Pat. No. 2,124,310 issued to Murr, Jr. used a lace zig-zagging around a plurality of hooks on the medial and lateral uppers and finally secured by means of a pinch fastener, thereby dispensing with the need for a tied knot. See also U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,774 issued to Zebe, Jr.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,671 issued to Caberlotto et al.; and U.S. Application 2006/0191164 published by Dinndorf et al. Other shoe manufactures have resorted to small clamp or pinch lock mechanisms that secure the lace in place on the shoe to retard the pressure applied throughout the day by the foot within the shoe that pulls a shoe lace knot apart. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,401 issued to Hanson; U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,898 issued to Borsoi et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,980 issued to Liu.
Other manufactures have dispensed entirely with the shoe lace. For example, ski boots frequently use buckles to secure the boot uppers around the foot and leg. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,749 issued to Gertsch et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,255 issued to Morrow et al. Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,949 issued to Seidel discloses a ski boot having a yoke extending from one part of the upper that snap locks over an upwardly protruding “nose” located on another portion of the upper with a spindle drive for adjusting the tension of the resulting lock mechanism. Because of the need to avoid frozen or ice-bound shoe laces, it is logical to eliminate external shoe laces from ski boots, and substitute an external locking mechanism that engages the rigid ski boot uppers.
A different approach employed for ski boots has been the use of internally routed cable systems tightened by a rotary ratchet and pawl mechanism that tightens the cable, and therefore the ski boot, around the wearer's foot. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,660,300 and 4,653,204 issued to Morell et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,726 issued to Schoch; U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,953 issued to Walkhoff; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,796 issued to Spademan. U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,558 issued to Hammerslang extended such a rotary ratchet-and-pawl tightening mechanism to an instep strap of an ice skate. Such a rotary ratchet-and-pawl tightening mechanism and internal cable combination have also been applied to athletic and leisure shoes. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,813 issued to Carroll; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,327,662 and 5,341,583 issued to Hallenbeck; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,613 issued to Sussmann.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,124 issued to Pozzobon et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,038 issued to Schoch; U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,778 issued to Jungkind; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,076,843 issued to Sakabayashi disclose other embodiments of rotary tightening mechanisms based upon ratchet-and-pawl or drive gear combinations operated by hand or a pull string. These mechanisms are complicated in their number of parts needed to operate in unison.
Still other mechanisms are available on shoes or ski boots for tightening an internally or externally routed cable. A pivotable lever located along the rear upper operated by hand is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,952 issued to Olivieri; U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,083 issued to Walkhoff; U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,532 issued to Seidel; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,065,906 issued to Jones et al. A slide mechanism operated by hand positioned along the rear shoe upper is disclosed by U.S. Application 2003/0177661 filed by Tsai for applying tension to externally routed shoelaces. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,403 issued to Martin, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,609 issued to Hieblinger.
Other shoe manufacturers have designed shoes containing a tightening mechanism that can be activated by the wearer's foot instead of his hand. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,954 issued to Voswinkel discloses a tension lever located inside the shoe that is pressed down by the foot to tighten a strap across the shoe upper. Internally routed shoe lace cables are actuated by a similar mechanism in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,983,530 and 6,427,361 issued to Chou; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,230 issued to Rotem et al. However, such tension lever or push plate may not have constant pressure applied to it by the foot, which will result in loosening of the tightening cable or strap. Moreover, the wearer may find it uncomfortable to step on the tension lever or push plate throughout the day. U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,210 issued to Bernier et al. takes a different approach by using a battery-charged retractor mechanism with an associated electrical motor positioned on the exterior of the shoe for pulling several straps across the shoe instep. But, such a battery-operated device can suffer from short circuits, or subject the wearer to a shock in a wet environment.
The shoe industry has also produced shoes for children and adults containing Velcro® straps in lieu of shoelaces. Such straps extending from the medial upper are readily fastened to a complementary Velcro patch secured to the lateral upper. But, such Velcro closures can frequently become disconnected when too much stress is applied by the foot. This particularly occurs for athletic shoes and hiking boots. Moreover, Velcro closures can become worn relatively quickly, losing their capacity to close securely. Furthermore, many wearers find Velcro straps to be aesthetically ugly on footwear.
Gregory G. Johnson, the present inventor, has developed a number of shoe products containing automated tightening mechanisms located within a compartment in the sole or along the exterior of the shoe for tightening interior or exterior cables positioned inside or outside the shoe uppers, while preventing unwanted loosening of the cables. Such tightening mechanism can entail a pair of gripping cams that engage the tightened cable, a track-and-slide mechanism that operates like a ratchet and pawl to allow movement in the tightening direction, while preventing slippage in the loosening direction, or an axle assembly for winding the shoe lace cable that also bears a ratchet wheel engaged by a pawl on a release lever for preventing counter-rotation. Johnson's automated tightening mechanisms can be operated by a hand pull string or track-and-slide mechanism, or an actuating lever or push plate extending from the rear of the shoe sole that is pressed against the ground or floor by the wearer to tighten the shoe lace cable. An associated release lever may be pressed by the wearer's hand or foot to disengage the automated tightening mechanism from its fixed position to allow loosening of the shoe lace or cables for taking off the shoe. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,032,387; 6,467,194; 6,896,128; 7,096,559; and 7,103,994 issued to Johnson.
However, none of the automated tightening systems heretofore devised has been entirely successful or satisfactory. Major shortcomings of the automated tightening systems of the prior art are that they fail to tighten the shoe from both sides so that it conforms snugly to the wearer's foot, and that they lack any provision for quickly loosening the shoe when it is desired to remove the shoe from the wearer's foot. Moreover, they frequently suffer from: (1) complexity, in that they involve numerous parts; (2) the inclusion of expensive parts, such as small electric motors; (3) the use of parts needing periodic replacement, e.g. a battery; or (4) the presence of parts requiring frequent maintenance. These aspects, as well as others not specifically mentioned, indicate that considerable improvement is needed in order to attain an automated tightening shoe that is completely successful and satisfactory.
Gregory Johnson has also developed an automated shoe tightening mechanism embedded in a shoe that is actuated by a wheel extending from the sole of the shoe. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,661,205 and 7,676,957. However, because the laces are physically secured to the tightening mechanism contained within a chamber of the shoe sole, they cannot be replaced should they fray or break. This shortens the useful life of the shoe product.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a shoe or other footwear product containing an automated tightening mechanism that is simple in design with few operating parts that can be operated by the foot without use of the wearer's hands, such as by a roller wheel extending from the heel of the shoe sole, while permitting the shoe lace to be replaced to extend the useful life of the shoe. Shoes that can be converted into a roller skate via a roller wheel that pivots out of a storage compartment in the sole are known. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,289 issued to Wang, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,251 issued to Walker. Such a popular shoe is sold under the brand Wheelies®. However, this type of convertible roller skating shoe does not contain an automated tightening mechanism, let alone use the roller wheel to actuate such a mechanism. The roller is used instead solely for recreational purposes.